- Chapter 19 -
This was a conversation she'd been waiting years for. Loki pursed her lips. He wanted what he thought was the final piece. He couldn't have all the pieces. He could never have all of them. She knew that one day he would ask, one day he would see the gaps in what she said. Tony always wanted the truth. He got as much of the truth as she thought he could handle. The rest was masked. She talked around it, threw out phrases to encourage him to assume, even used gambits to distract him from it when he strayed too close. She'd protected him from this for as long as she could. This piece was going to enrage him. What she didn't know was how much longer she could protect Thor once Tony knew what of it she could give. No one would be safe were he to learn all of it. "No, you know I'm unable to lie to you."
.-.-.-.
Of course, the Liesmith lied, thought Sif. She almost said it but managed to keep her silence. She knew Thor's feelings on Loki had turned quite suddenly of late. He was no longer willing to hear the truth about Loki. She and the Warriors Three were always truthful with Thor about Loki. Loki was cowardly, and always behaved in a manner unbecoming of a Prince of Asgard. He would've been a better court mage than a respected Prince of Asgard, for his only companions were books and he was far too devious to be trusted. Thor knew these things and agreed with them for many years. Then Thor was banished, which was Loki's doing and Sif would never forgive him for. Thor made fast acquaintances of these mortals, and now counted them among his companions. It was insulting enough that these unworthy mortals were even allowed to speak to her Prince, but that they believed themselves worthy to fight by his side?! They were miserable wretches. She and the Warriors Three were worthy. They had worked their way through the ranks of the Royal Guard and were now Captains. They were worthy to be Thor's companions. Worst of all was that these wretched mortals put their mortal ideas in Thor's head. What was even worse was that Thor seemed to agree with much of what they said. She would be happy to see them die in a few years. Sif huffed and looked to her Elder Brother.
Heimdall stood impassively against the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. He'd said nothing since greeting Thor when they'd arrived. This wasn't uncommon. Her Elder Brother was a man of few words, he always was. His gaze never left the recording, and she smiled when he moved only one hand to point twice at the screen. Sif turned back towards the recording. She honestly didn't see the point of all of this. If Loki was alive then he should be hunted down, dragged back to Asgard, tried then executed like the villain he was. What did it matter that he tried to end his own life? He was always cowardly, always telling them that this or that was a bad idea, that it was too dangerous or fool hardy. She frowned as she remembered. They tried to convince Thor to leave the weakling behind, but he never would. Thor insisted on dragging the sniveling coward everywhere. Sif didn't see how proof of his cowardice should change anything.
Sif risked a glance at her Lord. He sat impassive next to his Lady wife. She would never say as much, but she always pitied them. Not all parents were as magnificent as they were. They had such a fine son in Thor. He was the very pinnacle of Asgardian perfection. She understood Lord Odin's compassion in finding an abandoned infant and bringing the child home. Truly, Thor came by his noble and virtuous nature honestly. It was a shame that Loki was such a stain on the Royal Family. She could understand how such a useless scrap of flesh might have been abandoned. Prince or no, maybe they will finally execute the little worm.
.-.-.-.
"Oh, I know." Tony sipped at the smoothie again, stabbing at it with the straw between sips. He could see it in her face. She hadn't lied, but she hadn't been honest either. The anger burned a little hotter in his chest as a light ache began through the center of his back. He looked back to her, "Funny thing. A lie of omission is still a lie."
Loki was so tired of Tony's anger. She loved him more than life itself, but the fire of his anger had burnt her too many times to count. It was an ever-present heat rolling out through his seidr, unlike any other whisper she'd ever heard. His rage was a whisper that was felt but it wasn't what she wanted to feel from him. Him letting go of the anger was what she wanted. In addition to that, she wanted him to see that it wasn't worth holding onto. Anger wasn't what his fires were meant for. It did nothing for them. Loki just wanted some peace. She wanted to spend the rest of her time with him loving Tony, bearing his children, and raising them. Her works were almost complete. There was only one left undone. Frey would finish it for her. She'd always known that. The time she had with Tony was almost all she had left. That time was coming to a close. Very soon it would be done. Loki didn't want to spend that time dwelling in pain and anger. She wanted to let go of them. No matter where she went, no matter what form she took her oldest companions, pain and anger, followed along with her. Oh, how she wanted different companions.
"Don't you have anything to say? Anything? Nothing?" Tony was growing angrier at her silence. "You have nothing to say?!"
"What do you want me to say?" Loki asked quietly. I've moved you, and you've seen it. What more is there to say? I can't tell you that it wasn't enough. I can't tell you why I'm still moving you. Hope is treacherous. She wouldn't say that. Explosions of his anger were something else she didn't want.
"I want the truth from you! That was the deal. Remember the bargain we made? You give me the truth, whole and uncut, and I keep those pieces of shit you call a family alive. Remember that?! I do, I remember that," Tony was as hurt as ever and growing more upset that she was still keeping things from him. He wouldn't mind her dancing around him, trying to get him to do this thing or that, but she still found ways to hide things in that dance. He was getting damn tired of tripping over her secrets like half-cooked grenades. With everything he'd done, he felt that he was owed some honesty. How much worse does this get?!
.-.-.-.
"What?" Thor turned to Frey, "Uncle, what does Stark mean by that? What are they hiding? What are you hiding?" Sif, the Warriors Three, the mortals and even Heimdall turned to look at him. It looked as though he'd spoken for all of them.
The file was paused swiftly again. McCorrmick was glad he had a hand on the keyboard. He disliked having to be ready to pause the files at a moment's notice. It's past ridiculous now. Please emmika, just reflect on your guilt some.
Frigga turned quickly when she heard Thor speak. She wanted to know what bargain Loki struck with Stark, what terms and premiums were settled on. A bargain might explain why Loki was tolerating Stark. As she turned, she saw the look in her brother's eyes. He wasn't going to speak on this either. This was something else about her son that her brother was keeping from her. She liked none of it.
Odin turned with Frigga to look to Frey as well. He wanted to force the issue with Frey, to force his silence from him. The Truthkeeper and his family were still in the room with them. Even Frigga and Thor could be injured if they engaged one another in a violent manner while trapped in a small room. Risking Skuld's wrath and endangering his family weren't what he wanted. Odin wanted whatever Frey knew. He wanted it immediately. Once this was done, then he would get it. What the bargain was, what it was used for and how were very important. Unfortunately, there was a small but growing amount of resignation in his thoughts. He sincerely hoped that Stark wasn't the beast Odin feared him to be. If Stark were that beast, then him knowing the terms of the bargain would make no difference. As much as he wanted to be able to bring his son home, he also wanted there to be another explanation for what he saw.
"It means, boy, that Loki has traded much, almost everything she had to trade, to purchase safe passage for her family," Frey spoke with an absolute authority. He knew the truth, almost all of it, he was sure. He held up his hand, "Listen to Loki, listen as you should've done before."
"Did Loki bargain with Stark?" Thor demanded.
"Yes. They did bargain," Frey almost grimaced as he remembered their bargain. He pointed back to the screen. "Listen and learn."
"Why does that matter?" Director Fury asked Thor.
Thor looked at his uncle for a moment longer before turning back around. He huffed in frustration. 'Listen and learn' was one of his uncle's most favorite sayings. It was one of Thor's least favorite. He scowled at the screen. He didn't like that Stark had bargained with Loki. He wanted to know the terms of the bargain. Loki's life now depended on it.
"Thor?" the Director asked. He wanted to know if they knew something about how Loki might have turned Stark.
Thor huffed again. "A mage's bargain is a contract enforced by magic. It's entered into with all seriousness because it's magically sealed. If you fail to uphold your end of the bargain, then your life is forfeit."
Ordinarily McCorrmick would tell the unhappy Asgardian Prince that he was wrong. Not this day. His elder aunt forbid him from offering that information. Pain, worry, and irritation crossed Thor's face. A similar mix was found on his parents' faces. His brother, their son, was caught in a dangerous situation that they caused. The abrupt frustration that entered his thoughts was swiftly stowed in the quiet space. If he were allowed to speak then McCorrmick would have happily answered all their questions about the files they were viewing. He was sitting silently while people suffered. It was a terrible test of loyalty for any of the Satska Soledras. Maybe when I've proven our loyalty I can do something for them. This too was a thought he kept for himself.
Frey frowned at Frigga. She looked away with a slightly guilty flush on her face. That was only one way a mage's bargain could be executed. There were many premiums that could be offered, and many terms that could be negotiated. Thor knew only the easiest of them. It wasn't even the strongest. It certainly wasn't the way either he or Anthony bargained with Loki. As Crown Prince, Thor should know that. For him not to was dangerous. Even a novice mage could easily trick Thor into doing something awful and irreversible. Frey shook his head at his beloved sister. There was simply no excuse for the boy to be so uneducated.
As irritated as she was with her brother, Frigga still couldn't meet his gaze as her son said something both wrong and foolish. It was embarrassing as it always way. She knew that her son should have a better education than he did. There were reasons why he didn't. Neither her brother nor her son could know those reasons. Lacking a proper education, she tried to give Thor the happiness she and her brother didn't have. The reasons and her choices always felt half-witted whenever Thor opened his mouth to say something embarrassingly foolish. Frigga had thought for many decades that the boy's lack of education should be remedied. When they returned to Asgard, she was going to speak with Odin on it. He saw the same problem she did and they both knew it.
"So, it's a Mexican standoff," Bruce said, then added, "with magic". That didn't sound like something that Tony would do. It didn't in any way sound like something Lilith would do. She was a very calm and cautious woman. A small smirk crossed his face as he acknowledged that he liked her ability to argue with him while keeping him calm. It wasn't something that even Natasha could manage. Lilith is Loki, or Loki is Lilith. It wasn't as hard for him to adjust to that fact as he thought it should be. Like finding out that she liked flourless chocolate tort with rum sauce, it was just another facet of her. Bruce wasn't sure if that was good or not. It just was.
Thor looked over at him, "I'm sorry, Bruce. I don't know what that is." The All-Speak's silent translation of 'weapon circle' 'mutual downfall' wasn't clear enough for him.
"Everyone has a gun pointed at everyone else's head. First one to blink is the first one to get a bullet through the brain," Clint said quietly. That sounded like something he would expect from Loki, not Tony. It was all the more unsettling since it didn't seem like something Lilith would do either.
"Very much so," Thor agreed. He needed to know what the bargain was. It was displeasing to know that Stark was holding Loki's life in his hands. That made him very uncomfortable. It seemed particularly odd since Stark was supposed to be under Loki's control. If there was a bargain, then it seemed much less likely that Stark was under anyone's control but his own. That was also unsettling for Thor.
Frey put his calm expression back on his face. He made sure that his seidr was still pulled in achingly tight again because he wanted to scowl at the boy. Finding a book explaining what Thor needed to know about the Bargainer's Charm and how it worked would come first, then he wanted to force Thor to read it, then make him write a scroll's worth on the subject. Frey almost smirked. Thor always hated it when he did that. That was not the way they bargained, he thought. He hated to think of what vile bargain Loki and Anthony did strike.
Odin found himself embarrassed by his own son. It wasn't just that Thor acted foolishly again, it was that he didn't even realize that he'd done so that was most embarrassing. It was behavior unbecoming of a Crown Prince. He couldn't truly be upset at Thor. Odin knew that it was his own fault. His choices were directly responsible for what foolishness he was seeing from Thor. It was all done for a reason, but as time went on the results became less and less satisfactory.
.-.-.-.
"I've honored our bargain, I've only ever given you the truth," Loki said.
"But not all of it, Loki. You left things out. You leave things out, and that scares me." Tony didn't look scared. He looked as angry as he felt. His eyes began darkening with his anger.
Loki motioned to the tablet. It was a copy of first file. She decided that would be best to just attack the problem head on. "What would you have of me?"
Tony looked back at the tablet, "How did you know the camp? You weren't studying abroad, were you? What were you doing when you found out? And more importantly, where did you go when you dropped off the Bifrost, because it wasn't right into his hands. You were missing for almost a year, Loki. Almost an entire year! Where did you go to and what were you doing? It's too much of a coincidence that you fought him on Jotunheim and then just happened to be found by him after you fell into the maelstrom!" Tony set his glass aside roughly, sending some of the smoothie over the side onto the counter. Lunging across the counter, he reached out to grab her by the front of the shirt. His seidr extended out to wrap smoothly around her torso, forging into a Regenerative Weave as he did so which slid angrily into her blood. He dragged her forward until their faces were almost touching. "Did you tell Frey this before you told me?" he almost growled at her. The fire of his anger was lighting his eyes up in a pale orange.
.-.-.-.
Frigga drew in a small sharp breath then scowled heavily at the screen. Her hands tightened sharply then balled into fists. Some overbearing mortal was manhandling her son. She caught herself a moment before she summoned Snaelda Asni. She wanted to remove Stark's hands from Loki, at the wrists. More than that she wanted to know why Loki was tolerating this. This was anything but tolerable. Whatever crimes her son may have committed, however unbalanced his mind was, didn't change the fact that he was still royalty. Stark didn't have the proper respect. It was only while she was stuck in this little room that she would tolerate this despicable disrespect of her son.
.-.-.-.
Loki was almost laying across the counter, Tony had her by the shirt. Her feet weren't touching the floor anymore. The warmth of his weave spread through her. She braced herself on her arms. Anyone else might have been scared of Tony like that, with eyes flashing loose seidr, his muscles bunching and flexing under his skin as though he were preparing to strike. The burn of his anger rolled out hotter through his seidr. Loki would never be afraid of his anger. She could never be afraid of that. He would never strike her. "I haven't told Frey anything that I haven't told you. I've told him less, considerably so. If you remember, you helped me do it," Loki laid a hand over the hand fisted in her shirt. "However, Frey is no fool. He is highly intelligent, observant, and quick witted. What he puts together on his own is not my responsibility." She watched as the muscles in his arm tensed. Had he been Thor, she would be flying off into the cabinets behind her. Tony's seidr unwrapped from her as he gently released her. She could feel his seidr curling back into his core.
"Frey does know more than me?" Tony demanded as the last of his seidr fed back into his core.
"Probably not. However, hiding things from my uncle is no small feat. As I said, he is no fool." Loki straightened her shirt, smoothing out some of the wrinkles. "Don't be angry with him." She had no fear of Frey knowing what piece she was probably going to have to give to Tony. There were only two people whom she'd directly told. Neither Tony nor Frey were either of them.
"Why shouldn't I be angry with him?! If he knew this shit before me, and didn't say anything, I'm going to be fucking pissed!" Tony stood swiftly as he yelled. It was slightly unnerving to think that Frey might be as bad as the rest of Loki's family. He took his children to Frey. Most importantly, he took Loki to Frey for medical care that he couldn't provide.
"Frey has earned his leeway. If you love me, then you have no place being angry with Frey," Loki said sternly.
"Don't you pull that shit with me! I love you, and I still want to curb stomp Thor." Tony knew that he needed to calm down. Yelling wasn't going to help, but it was hard not to yell. It really only made the ache in his back turn sharp. He tried to reign in his seidr some. The inferno in his chest was unruly and difficult to control when he was angry or scared. He was terrified that there was something he was going to be blind sided with. He loved Loki so much, she knew that, she had to know that. Ever since the dark days he was terrified of letting her go. Tony couldn't live without her, not anymore. He demanded the truth from her because if he knew the truth then he could prepare for it. He was terrified of what he didn't know. He couldn't prepare for the unknown. It hurt that she kept handicapping him like this.
"True, but Frey, unlike Thor, has kept me alive all these long years. If not for Frey's intervening, I wouldn't have lived long enough to meet you." Loki was a calm form in front of him.
Tony stopped cold. "It wasn't just the third attempt," his voice was suddenly breathy and almost gone. He sat back down quietly. Putting too much thought into Loki's past attempts on her life wasn't something he normally did. Instead of that, he tried to focus on making her happy enough that she would never want to try again. Once Loki gave him the number of tries and the general methods used then he let it go. He didn't want to push Loki too hard on it, and Loki seemed more than happy to not be pushed. However, if Frey was tangled up in this like he was tangled up in so many other things, then Tony had to know how. There was no way he was going to be comfortable going to Vanaheim again unless he knew the whole truth. What happened, what did Frey know, what did Frey do? Most importantly, he needed to know why Frey should get a pass on the anger that was always aimed towards the rest of her family. "Tell me, Loki. Tell me everything. You've never told me what happened. If I'm not supposed as angry with Frey as I am the rest of them, then I'm going to need some damn good reasons. I want the truth."
Loki tensed slightly to keep from shivering as their bargain activated. She avoided that embarrassment whenever she could. The seidr in her blood produced an overpowering urge to tell him what he wanted to know. She looked at the floor. This was something she hated talking about, as she always hated her own weakness. Looking back up at him after a deep breath, she began to speak. "Fine. Before we begin, Jarvis, have Jay take the children to the movies and dinner. We're going to need some time." Even in their children was another secret that she kept from Tony. There were too many secrets, but this one wasn't hers to reveal.
"Yes, Madam," Jarvis replied quietly.
